With a major controversy brewing in the back halls of the United Center, the Bulls beat the Celtics in a game with a playoff feel and move to the brink of the postseason., Meanwhile, Boston settles for he fourth seed in the East.

The Suns' eighth-straight win clinched a playoff spot just one year Phoenix after missed the postseason for the first time since Steve Nash returned to the desert. Meanwhile, the Bulls found their playoff hopes battered in more ways than one.

The Heat and Bulls hooked up before a national audience as the playoff races enter the home stretch. One team was in postseason form, while the other looked like it in its first training camp scrimmage.